Virtual Reality Theme Park Will Offer the Best VR Experience to Everyone – THE VOID Exclusive

The Vision Of Infinite Dimensions (THE VOID), the world’s first Virtual Reality (VR) theme park, will open its doors in Pleasant Grove, Utah, in the summer 2016. THE VOID will combine physical environments with VR technology to offer the ultimate entertainment experience.

“At THE VOID you will walk into new dimensions and experience worlds without limits,” says THE VOID’s website. “From fighting intergalactic wars on alien planets, to casting spells in the darkest of dungeons, The Void presents the Future of Entertainment.”

Only limited by imagination, our advanced Virtual-Reality technologies allow you to see, move, and feel our digital worlds in a completely immersive and realistic way.

The Void will offer its own special line of high performance virtual reality interface gears, dubbed “Rapture” which includes headsets (image below), gloves, and body suits with haptic feedback that will allow visitors to see impressive virtual worlds and play games in full 3D, 360-degree immersion, walk in VR, and touch virtual objects. Like the Disney theme parks, THE VOID will be a social experience to enjoy with friends.

Hacked reached out to Gregg Jensen and Devin McGinn, respectively Chief Software Architect and Director of Creative Media at THE VOID, to find out more.

Jensen is responsible for developing THE VOID as a platform. He designed and built many of the APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), that make global tracking as well as the 4D effects possible. He implemented the current user interface that runs the experiences and tracks the status of the packs, and integrated the system that builds and deploys the experiences to all machines in a single click. Currently, he is leading a team to architect and implement THE VOID’s online reservation system, which will be expanded to included avatar creation and micro transactions.

McGinn kindly answered the questions below.

Being Able to Literally Walk Through These Worlds Changes Everything

Could you describe THE VOID in a short sentence?

THE VOID is fulfilling the true promise of VR as a place people can come and not just play a game or watch a movie, but actually live them.

What’s your business model?

If you think about how a high-end movie theatre operates your getting close. People can watch trailers and book times for their experiences just as one might do when going to see a movie. This is one of the ways we avoid people having to stand in line. In addition, the experience begins the moment you walk through our doors. It will be a fascinating, imaginative and social place where people can spend hours with their friends and family.

Virtual reality has been hyped a lot since the 90s, but it hasn’t been adopted by consumers besides a few hardcore gamers. Can the Rift and other next-generation VR interfaces change that?

We love those systems, but they still have a pretty big price barrier and controller learning curve, not to mention the sickness issues some people have when seated. One of the most important things in getting consumers to adopt VR, is getting a fantastic experience out to the general public.

That’s exactly what our VOID Virtual Entertainment Centers are positioned to do. You don’t have to be a high end gamer with thousands of dollars of hardware to have a fantastic VR experience. It doesn’t matter if you’re a grandparent who has never touched a game controller, or a young child who just wants to be a wizard for a while. At THE VOID we’re making the best VR experience accessible to everyone.

What unique experiences will THE VOID continue to offer to VR-savvy consumers with powerful VR interfaces at home?

Our “Rapture” hardware isn’t confined by the same price point limitations as the home market. This allows us to create the absolute best of the best experiences. Also, walking cannot be overstated. As simple as that sounds, as a gamer we are accustomed to sitting in a chair and holding a controller. In recent years we have even been able to stand in our living room and flail our arms around a bit. But putting on a VR headset, seeing a whole world before you and then simply naturally walking forward to explore it is incredibly powerful.

Though you are exploring a fixed physical space, by using a technique we call “The Infinite Hallway” we can make you feel as though you are walking for miles and never entering the same room twice. Being able to literally walk through these worlds changes everything. You simply cannot get that experience at home.

Are you open to collaborations with entrepreneurs who wish to establish VOID-branded VR theme parks in their area?

We are open to partnering with select groups when it makes sense within our business structure and are currently exploring some of those potential partnerships. However, we don’t see THE VOID falling into a franchise model.

So when will you sell to Disney?

Ha! We see THE VOID as an incredibly strong brand and don’t have plans to part with it anytime soon, though as I stated above we are certainly open to partnerships when the fit is right.

What do you think of the recently announced Jaunt funding round by top investors including Disney, and the possible evolution of Disney theme parks into VR theme parks?

The Jaunt funding is very cool, as it seems like the natural evolution in cinema. It differs from what we are doing, in that I imagine it will still be a seated passive experience. However, as a movie lover I’m excited to see where it goes. As far as Disney possibly moving toward VR I think it makes sense, as we believe this really is the future of entertainment.

The thing about it, is that’s a once a year destination. We imagine THE VOID more like a high-end movie theatre or Imax screen. Most people will eventually have one within driving distance and will visit it multiple times throughout the year. Besides, who’s to say those Disney experiences won’t be powered by THE VOID.

Images from THE VOID.

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Their coin will utilize the TERRA ‘TVT’ handle, and it will be used to support a disruptive consumer and social platform and marketplace Virtual Reality (VR) entertainment software.

Terra Virtua incorporates decentralised blockchain technology for their ecosystem to fulfil their goal of delivering a Netflix-style subscription service for VR experiences. They promise to offer a wide selection of titles: from video games, to movies and other types of entertainment.

A Partnership of Epic Proportions

Video game developer Epic games solidified their support for Terra Virtua’s platform with their presence on the day of the pre-ICO launch, with graphics card manufacturer Nvidia (who provided the high-tech hardware and software used for VR demonstration at the event).

One of the experiences on display was ‘Robo-Recall’, which is a virtual reality video-game in which the player is tasked with destroying an army of enemy robots using a variety of guns. It takes place in a stunningly realistic semi-futuristic metropolis setting, and the immersion were results of advanced high frame-rate eyeball-tracking systems. Advanced controllers combined with accurate hand movement synchronisation & dynamic software coding meant that combat and in-world interactions felt almost real.

Epic Games cut their teeth developing early PC video game titles in the 90s, and more recently have released internationally successful titles like Fortnight, along with the extremely prolific Unreal Engine. This development suite has been licensed for use by Terra Virtua for their eponymous ‘virtual platform’ – used for player navigation and social interaction between VR games and experiences.

The Speakers and Speeches

Many of the Terra Virtua senior leadership team were present on the day. Several delivered words to the crowd regarding the platform, and their roles in its development. Additional speakers included a handful of the team’s partners and associates.

The series of speakers was preceded by Jawad Ashraf, Terra Virtua’s Founder. His ability to draw a team together should speak for itself, however he has significant experience in the industry as well. In addition to working as Head of Technology at the Entertainer in Dubai (strategic leadership for high profile mobile applications in the Middle East), Ashraf is currently known best for his investments and professional contributions in both mobile application companies, as well as VR.

After this introduction, we were introduced to the company’s CEO Gary Bracey, an accomplished player in the video and computer gaming industry for over 35 years, with his early prominent successes including the foundation of seminal development/publishing house Ocean Software

Chief Technology Officer Kish Hirani (ex-Sony PlayStation, BAFTA VR advisory group) did not make a formal speech on the day; however, he made a strong presence networking amongst the various journalists, investors and others present.

Peter Bergstrom is the head cryptocurrency expert on the team, acting in the capacity as Chief Strategy Officer. His portfolio of experiences and successes in across the blockchain scene goes as far back as 2011 where his enthusiasm towards cryptocurrencies began with personal investment and evangelism of the Bitcoin ecosystem. Other key speakers included Nick Button-Brown, the chairman of BAFTA Games.

If you would like to see the full set of speeches – they are currently online over here on Facebook. Furthermore, you can find out more on the upcoming ICO event as well as the platform and coin themselves on the official website. They also have an active presence on Twitter and Facebook.

The Terra Virtua ICO is set to launch later this month. Check out their official media for the latest updates.

Important: Never invest (trade with) money you can't afford to comfortably lose. Always do your own research and due diligence before placing a trade. Read our Terms & Conditions here. Trade recommendations and analysis are written by our analysts which might have different opinions. Read my 6 Golden Steps to Financial Freedom here. Best regards, Jonas Borchgrevink.

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Students Create Doom AI Which Learns Visually and Kills Humans in Deathmatch

Two students from Carnegie Mellon University recently placed second in an artificial intelligence competition for their submission of a program that was able to learn the game Doom the same way humans do – by playing.

Important: Never invest (trade with) money you can't afford to comfortably lose. Always do your own research and due diligence before placing a trade. Read our Terms & Conditions here. Trade recommendations and analysis are written by our analysts which might have different opinions. Read my 6 Golden Steps to Financial Freedom here. Best regards, Jonas Borchgrevink.

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5 stars on average, based on 2 rated postsP. H. Madore has covered the cryptocurrency beat over the course of hundreds of articles for Hacked's sister site, CryptoCoinsNews, as well as some of her competitors. He is a major contributing developer to the Woodcoin project, and has made technical contributions on a number of other cryptocurrency projects. In spare time, he recently began a more personalized, weekly newsletter at http://ico.phm.link

Five years after suffering a devastating hack that compromised the user details of some 77 million PlayStation Network users, Sony has introduced two-factor authentication (2FA) on PSN accounts. Sony confirmed the news with a tweet last night, explaining how the feature works.

Users will be asked to provide a verification code that will be texted to their mobile phones at the time of signing into their PSN account. While the feature isn’t hack-proof (nothing is, really), it provides a much-needed extra layer of protection that a large platform like the PlayStation Network, with over 100 million uses, deserves.

Sony added:

Passwords can be compromised if you use the same password for multiple accounts, click on malicious links, open phishing emails and other methods.

If your password is compromised and becomes known to someone other than yourself, your account will still require a verification code to gain access when you activate 2-Step Verification.

With the feature, Sony caught up with its console rival Microsoft. The Redmond-based software giant had introduced 2FA for Xbox back in 2013, during the days of Xbox 360. Other platforms which sees millions of users such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Twitter and others have been offering 2FA security for years.

It is perhaps baffling that Sony took as long as it did to introduce 2FA security, after the 2011 breach. At the time, the hack had Sony admitting that names, email addresses, billing addresses, account passwords and some credit card numbers were all exposed. The fallout saw Sony fined by the UK government. Furthermore, Sony also agreed to a settlement in a class action lawsuit, worth millions, granting PSN users in the United States the means to claim damages if they suffered identity theft as a result of the data breach.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

Important: Never invest (trade with) money you can't afford to comfortably lose. Always do your own research and due diligence before placing a trade. Read our Terms & Conditions here. Trade recommendations and analysis are written by our analysts which might have different opinions. Read my 6 Golden Steps to Financial Freedom here. Best regards, Jonas Borchgrevink.

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